PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Low Zi Yu is on the brink of winning her first world junior title.
The 16-year-old and her new partner Genevie Lim stormed into the final of the World Junior Championships after upstaging China’s Shi Sichen-Xiang Yujin 15-9, 15-11 in the semi-finals at the Cairo International Stadium yesterday.
They will play the winners of the match between Japan’s Nijika Kamata-Shizuku Kashio and Choi Ye-da-Kim Min-chae of South Korea in the final.
This is Zi Yu’s third consecutive final appearance in the worlds.
Zi Yu also reached the final with Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan in 2025 and Dania Sofea Zaidi in 2024 but failed to win on both occasions.
On Thursday, Zi Yu-Genevie needed just 22 minutes to beat Hong Kong’s Au-yeung Wing Chi-Chu Wing Chi 15-7, 15-7 in the quarter-finals.
The pair are Malaysia’s only survivors after boys’ doubles second seeds Isyraf Hafizin Ibrahim-Ahmad Redzuan Zulwaqqarizal were knocked out.
Isyraf-Redzuan went down 15-7, 11-15, 9-15 to Japan’s Oku Mahiro-Masato Yamashiro in the quarter-finals.
For Redzuan, the defeat capped a frustrating day after he had also been eliminated in the mixed doubles with Zi Yu.
The top seeds went down 15-11, 15-17, 13-15 to South Korea’s Jeong Seong-been-Kim Min-chae in the third round.
